The Remembrance
by Soline
Summary: After Voldemort's won the war, Hermione disguises herself and retreats into the darker places of society. While working at the Hog's Head, she's fated to serve Severus Snape. Will he know her after what they committed on the last night of war?
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.**

**Chapter One**

The Hog's Head was more crowded than usual on Saturday nights, giving individuals more probability of never being noticed. Men, more often than not, slithered through the door, their hoods drawn high and the gleaming whites of their eyes shifting. The entrance meant they were checking for any enemies before choosing to remain. They'd then either choose a table among equally dubious friends or sit alone at one of the very small tables toward the back. Severus Snape, who entered in this way, was one of those loners.

Severus settled himself in his usual, darkest corner of the room and waited to be served. Girls, both daring and stupid to work at The Hog's Head, scampered back and forth with trays balancing at the waves of their wands. Severus watched as one waitress pulled another, rescued her, from a rather intoxicated group with uncouth hands. The rescuer smoothed the other girl's hair and took her trays, in addition to her own, out of compassion.

"Take a rest, Jane. I'll cover you," Severus heard the rescuer say. She was a blonde with bangs that fringed over her eyes; Severus thought he saw tears glimmering in her grey gaze at that moment and knew the bangs were meant for more than mystery.

Severus turned his attention to the _Daily Prophet_ he had removed from his pocket and read the first headline: _Dark Lord Appoints Lucius Malfoy Minister of Magic_.

Fucking hell. Severus curled his lip, the skin between his eyebrows winkling in aversion. Lucius probably couldn't wait to gloat. In fact, he may find himself invited to the Malfoy's for just that reason – a Malfoy swanking tea party. Narcissa would use her best china, no doubt, just to boast that she owns the most expensive set in England.

"If you do not release me, _sir_, I will magic your withered ball sack into your throat so that you die choking on them."

Severus raised his eyes crossly, thinking the waitress to be speaking to him. Instead, the blonde yanked her barely-there skirt away from a cackling old fool and moved quickly toward Severus.

"Sir, can I get you someth—"

She had looked at him. She had looked into his cruel eyes and panicked, as people did sometimes when they knew who he was and were afraid.

The waitress tripped and skidded on her knees across the rough stone floor. Three trays floating around her head jumped up, as if jerked, and then crashed down around her. The clatter attracted the attention of everyone in the bar as glass shattered. She landed at his feet, her forehead only inches from his leg and Severus briefly wondered if she was trying to kiss his boots.

"_Lizzie!_" the manager thundered, plowing his way across the room to stand above her. "Get your arse off the floor—no, better yet, stay on your knees to clean it up! Damn girl… I _apologize_, Master Snape. Consider _anything_ you desire tonight on the house. _Anything_."

The manager squatted down next to the quivering girl, and Severus' eyes followed him, dark and smoky.

"I've struck you before," the squat man growled, leaving the threat unsaid. "You'll give him whatever he desires, you stupid chit."

Severus ignored the man as he smiled oily, bowed, and turned away. He was studying the way the blonde (What was her name? Oh, yes, Lizzie.) would not turn her face toward him.

"What do you want… sir?" Lizzie said tersely as she scourgified the mess and rose to her feet. Severus smirked, hearing the challenge behind her tone. He almost wanted to take her home just to see how violently the small blonde could fight.

"Whiskey. A tumbler," he said shortly. He straightened the newspaper in his hands again but snuck a glance at Lizzie's face. Her hair masked her downcast eyes but there was something oddly familiar in the way she chewed her bottom lip.

"Yes, sir."

Those two words, just two words, caused Severus to read the same article three times without realizing what he had read. It took him some time to figure out what had been so distracting in the first place. _Yes, sir._

Lizzie set the tumbler firmly on his table, and he did not see her for the remainder of the night.

* * *

He was back again. He strides through that door like he owns the world, and who's to say he doesn't? Cold eyes, white skin, clenching jaw muscles as if he's always furious… He was exactly how Hermione remembered him, although she didn't at all want to. She had viciously pushed him from her memories; she didn't want to remember… And yet in he walked, and she met the fate of serving him. She'd never served that corner before; it wasn't her station. Now Jane had quit the job – Hermione would be serving her Professor Snape.

She flattened her bangs over her eyes and squared her shoulders. The hair was convenient in several ways. First, no one expected her to be blonde. Second, masked eyes made it difficult to use Legilimency on her. Thirdly, her tears were hidden - the sort of men she served enjoyed tears too much.

So, with some shaky confidence, Hermione strode toward the Potions master. Luckily, it was Tuesday. The bar was practically empty.

"Can I get you something, sir?" _Bastard. Coward!_

"Whiskey. Tumbler," he said. He had no paper this time. He leaned back in his chair, arms crossed, eyes steeled and firm. Hermione recognized the probing feeling at her mind immediately and shut him out so hard that Severus flinched. Very slightly.

Hermione counterattacked, her conscience launching toward his unsuspecting thoughts. She saw only a glimpse of a picture: _A group of first years, her own face among them, and a strong, violent hatred toward one Harry Potter._ She bit her lip as he forced her out, looking livid.

"Stay out of my head, you filth, and I'll do you the same favor," she hissed.

What was it about the girl? He hadn't been able to penetrate her mind at all; she had kicked him out on his ass, metaphorically. It was fucking ridiculous; Severus found himself puzzled over the waitress no matter how little he claimed to care.

And so the third time he'd returned and sat in his dark corner, his darker eyes following her strangely familiar movements.

_Filth_, she had called him. It had nearly infuriated him enough to curse her. No one spoke to him like that, and certainly not a common waitress who flounced her short skirt for better tips! However, he was too curious to remain angry. Severus had little else to amuse him of late, and the girl gave him something to think on.

Lizzie served a tray of blood mugs to a table of vampires and then backed quickly away, her wrist moving expertly to disperse the mugs among the group. She brought him a tumbler of whiskey without asking to begin with, and he accepted it wordlessly.

"Did the manager strike you on my account?" he asked silkily before she could leave. She snapped her eyes upward to glare at him and quickly looked away again. Her right eye was swollen, purple and grey, and not easily hidden by her hair this night.

"It doesn't concern you."

"Have I affronted you so badly to earn your cheek?" he snapped, throwing back the whiskey. "I would demand your immunity from his violence if you so pleased—"

"I certainly don't need your help!" she snarled and tossed her hair. That action was… so familiar. What the bloody hell was it about her? Severus growled in discontent.

"Another, then, you damn witch," he retorted, dropping the empty glass.

* * *

Hermione wanted to scream. She wanted to hurl the Killing Curse at his giant, beaky nose and watch the life leave his eyes. That's what he had done. That's what he did to Harry. He had only _watched_ of course; Voldemort actually killed Harry, but Severus had allowed it. And now that very man expected her to serve him drinks!

She snarled in her throat, causing the people nearby to eye her warily. She smiled at them and floated the trays around the room, aware of the black eyes following her. Luckily, he hadn't figured her out yet. Hermione would know when he had, but she needed to earn money until then. It was her only chance of sleeping under a roof _and_ acquiring information at the same time.

"It's him."

She was serving a table of three, each of them young men in their twenties. They ignored her as she plopped their drinks down.

"It's him; I'm sure of it. Severus Snape is one of You-Know-Who's closest followers," one of the young men whispered.

Hermione smiled grimly and turned away. Of course, _everyone_ knew about Severus. Voldemort praised him and Lucius both in many of his public appearances.

She clenched her jaw and delivered the whiskey to Severus for the fourth time.

"Good evening, Lizzie," he said lowly, his long fingers wrapping around the cool glass.

"Indeed," she replied dryly.

"You know my preference so well—"

"And yet you never spare a tip, sir," she scathed, looking at the window behind him instead of into his eyes. Her reflection in the dark glass was so pale that Hermione's freckles were clearly etched into her cheeks. "Fuck."

Severus raised his eyebrows at her, stopping the tumbler in front of his lips.

Hermione dropped the tray on his table and ran toward the back of the bar, weaving through customers and other waitresses clumsily.

"Lizzie!" the manager yelled as she darted past him, snatched a flask out of her coat pocket, and continued toward the back door.

"Oh, fuck!" she wheezed, her cold fingers struggling to unscrew the lid. "Budge up, you stupid…"

The potion tasted horrid as it slid down her throat. It was hardly even liquid; more like mud. Hermione flattened her bangs down, watching the browning ends turn yellow again.

She heard the front door bang open and familiarly heavy footsteps falling toward her. Hermione magicked herself to the roof.

She nearly fell when she finished levitating herself upward but instead caught her balance by flattening herself onto the roof. Severus rounded the corner, his eyes searching and wand upheld. He was muttering something, maybe a spell, but Hermione didn't hear. Instead, she watched three other figures look around the corner after him. Their wand tips were glowing green. They were the three young men talking about Severus Snape earlier… Hermione gasped; they had come to kill him.

Hermione didn't think. She didn't stop to think. The Killing Curse was already leaving their lips. Wasn't it what she wanted though? So why didn't she stop to _think_?

She Disarmed one of the boys wordlessly, and Severus turned at their surprised cries.

"Expelliarmus!" another of the young men cried and Hermione misjudged the spell. She thought it was meant for Severus, but instead her wand dropped to the ground far below.

"No!" Hermione cried. Severus glanced up at her and turned his attention back to his assassins. They were already dueling. Hermione jumped to her feet, watching the scene below avidly. Severus was distracted by two of them – the wandless one had tackled him. The third was aiming freely at him. He said, "Avada—"

Hermione ran across the roof, her feet stumbling on the incline, and leapt into the air.

Her body, her lower stomach, collided with the boy's shoulder. The ground jerked upward to meet her, and she felt pain shredding her insides.

Severus was growling curses; he was still alive. Hermione wanted to slap herself but was too busy clutching her abdomen. What had she done? _Why?_

The noise stopped and the silence worsened Hermione's fear. With her temple pressed into the dirt, she watched Severus Stun and Disillusion the unconscious young men and pile them in a corner. Was he going to leave them there until they died? He stooped to pick up her emptied flask, sniffing it in puzzlement. Hermione laughed weakly; he'd not likely recognize it because she had invented it herself.

"What's funny, Lizzie?" he asked quietly. He dropped the flask into his pocket.

"Master Snape, are you all right?" the manager said breathlessly, bursting out of the back door. "Merlin's balls, girl, this is _your_ fault!"

He was coming toward her on his stumpy, fat-folded legs. Hermione waited for a blow that never came. Instead, her manager slumped to the ground, staring back at her with only the whites of his eyes.

"You – You killed him!" Hermione wheezed. Severus frowned at the fat body, toeing it in thought.

"Let it be a testimony to all the woman-beaters," he snarled. "Especially on the young ones…"

Severus Snape, the defender of women? Hermione tilted her head to glare up at him. The hair fell out of her eyes. Severus seized the opportunity and dove into her thoughts.

_Lying bastard – pathetic coward – Voldemort's fucking bitch._

And then she forced him out, having let him see all the insults she wrought upon him at the moment. He sneered at her and stepped over the manager to squat between them.

"Impressive vocabulary to be used, and yet you saved me, Lizzie. Why?" he asked. Hermione twisted her expressions, feeling the emotions stinging her heart.

"I want to kill you myself," she growled. She did. She hated the man for what he had done to her. What he had made her feel…

The surprise showed briefly on his expression and then it darkened again, with a smile.

"You have my attention," he purred. Hermione glared harder, her eyebrows nearly meeting in the middle. Was he excited by her murderous intention? Was he getting his revolting jollies from her homicidal desire?

She lunged at him, unfurling her body with harsh jolts without testing its limits first. Severus was knocked backward as Hermione shoved at him, but then she could only feel pain. Her left foot scraped against the ground and the tendons in Hermione's ankle twisted in pain. Meanwhile, her insides writhed and entangled.

"Oh, God," Hermione whimpered, feeling Severus lock his arms around her. He was forcing her stiff lips open, pressing a vial against her mouth, and he forced her to swallow. Something sickening coated her stomach, but imbalanced unconsciousness was welcoming her. She vaguely felt her lips babble. "I hate you. I am so broken… because of you. You could have changed it."

Severus called Hermione's wand to his grasp, his other hand steadying her in his lap as she swayed into the darkness.

"Yes," she heard him murmur. "You have my _full_ attention."

* * *

Well. This was meant to be a one-shot, but it would have been incredibly lengthy and maybe bored you all to tears. So! The story will come in three chapters - this is the first. Maybe I'll update once a week or maybe every few days. *shrugs* It depends on how motivating the reviews are, I guess.

Next chapter, more of the puzzle will fall into place, and Severus begins to figure Hermione out. What will he do, after what they've already done...

Please review!

Love! Soline


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.**

**Chapter Two**

Hermione woke up and dim light soaked into the slits of her eyelids.

And she braced herself.

But the pain never came. She slowly stretched her ankle and found it to work fluidly and painlessly. Her fingers pressed into the cushion of her abdomen but her insides no longer burned.

Candles were the only light in the room; three sticks flickered on the bedside table. Next to them lay a silver platter with small amounts of food on it. Some toast had been nibbled on, and Hermione imagined someone had been feeding her.

How long had she been unconscious? How long since…

She snatched up the platter, throwing the food to the floor, and peered into the reflecting silver. She was still blonde-haired and grey-eyed. Her disguise still held, meaning it hadn't yet been seventy-two hours since she drank the Guise Potion.

"What did you expect to see?"

His voice came from the foot of her bed, where he'd been standing silently in the darkness. Now Severus moved into the light.

"You cannot keep me here," Hermione hissed, sitting up straight. Severus chuckled.

"I do as I please, Lizzie," he said silkily. "Why would I let you go? You want to kill me."

"Many people do."

"And none are as interesting as you," he said quietly. "Do you know I am the most accomplished Legilimens in the magical world, besides the Dark Lord himself? And yet _you_ blocked me."

"If _you're_ second-best, then Voldemort must be—"

"_Don't_ use his name!" Snape hissed, shoving his wand point into the flesh of Hermione's throat. "Are you even Pureblood?"

"I won't play into your prejudiced game," she said, pushing his wand away. "I want to go home."

"No," he growled. Hermione stared wide-eyed into his icy, calculating orbs. "You've disguised yourself; that's why you keep checking your reflection. I want to know who you really are… _Lizzie_."

He receded into the darkness again, and Hermione heard a door open and lock once more.

On shaking legs, Hermione pushed herself out of the bed and held a candle in front of her. She caught a reflection of herself in a darkened window.

"How long before I change back?" she muttered, trailing her fingertips down the glass. "What's he going to do to me?" Hermione could only think of the last time he saw her.

"_Professor, help!" she screamed. Harry was on his knees, the life spurting out of his chest in red streams. Hermione was behind him, her thin arms wrapped around his shoulders, her cheek pressed against his temple. _

_Voldemort stood in front of them, his red smile rising._

"_Professor!" Hermione groaned. Severus was behind Voldemort. Why was he smiling, too? "Please! Hold on to me, Harry."_

_Voldemort raised his wand's green-tinged tip. _

"_Look at me, Harry," she sobbed._

_Harry's head fell onto Hermione's shoulders, his anguished, green eyes locking onto hers. She entangled her fingers in his messy hair to keep him there. The life was already draining from him. She pressed her lips to his scar. _

"_Avada Kedavra!"_

_It burned her lips._

Hermione slid to her knees, gently setting the candle on the floor, and buried her face into her legs.

* * *

"A weeping chit," Lucius drawled. "How very captivating, Severus."

The darker wizard shot Lucius a scathing look.

"She's disguised herself," he said shortly. "She harbors a strong desire to kill me."

"It sounds perfectly typical to me," Lucius smirked. Severus scowled at him and lowered the Looking Glass with a wave of his wand. "So have you heard that the Dark Lord appointed me as Minister of Magic?"

"I have… several times," Severus snarled.

"Cissa wants you to come for celebratory tea."

Indeed.

"I am busy," Severus said.

"Yes, of course… the chit…"

They sipped their alcohol in silence, both brooding separately about the other. Severus wondered if Lucius knew the Dark Lord had only appointed him to keep Lucius out of trouble. The aristocratic had a knack for meddling when peaceful times had fallen. And the times were peaceful – the Dark Lord ruled sternly.

_CRASH_

Both wizards jumped up, wands drawn.

"What was that, Severus?"

"No fucking clue," he muttered. He waved the Looking Glass upward again.

Lizzie was climbing out of the third-story window, slicing her legs on shredded glass in the window sill.

"Is she…" Lucius murmured, eyebrows rising. Severus had the same thought. Was she committing suicide?

She jumped. Severus snarled loudly and ran to the front door, Lucius close on his heels. His eyes searched the grass underneath her window.

And he found nothing.

How could she not be harmed?

She – was climbing down a nearby tree.

"I daresay you _will_ be busy," Lucius laughed.

Lizzie dropped to the ground and turned large eyes toward them.

"Malfoy," she snarled. He nodded at her, smiling. Then Severus Stunned her and let her fall hard onto the ground.

"Go back to your wife, Lucius. I have… things to do," Severus said between gritted teeth.

"Let me know," Lucius said before Apparating, "what she's disguising. I'm curious."

Severus Levitated the girl back to her room, fixing and shielding the window before tending to the slices in her flesh. He held a potion to her mouth and she hardened her eyes.

"It will repair your cuts," he said shortly. The Stunned girl whimpered in her throat. "Oh, for fuck's sake. I'm not hurting you!"

He forced the potion down her throat and watched for the cuts to heal.

They didn't. In fact, they started to bleed more profusely. Lizzie's face was paling. She shook rigidly.

Severus took the spell off of her.

"Asphelwood!" she cried as soon has he un-Stunned her. "You used Asphelwood, Professor! My potion… had Ladybell roots!"

Severus paled and rushed to his bag of potions.

"You used Ladybell roots in your potion, you idiot girl? They're poisonous! Asphelwood and Ladybell roots mixed will kill you!"

"It worked..." she sighed, watching him use his hands nimbly to produce a counter potion. Severus tipped several vials to her lips in quick succession.

She sighed again, her eyes closing in synch with her closing lips. Severus sank onto the bed beside her, looking down his beaky nose to study the sleeping blonde intently. As he cleaned the bed of blood, he could only think on one word: Professor.

She had called him Professor.

And Severus lay beside her, watching and wondering deeply what student in the past hated him enough to want to kill him. He realized that she could be any number of students; many of them had loathed him, in fact. He could probably safely assume Lizzie's real identity was female; she acted female.

She was stupid, though. She had used _Ladybell roots_ in her disguising potion! Even he wouldn't have been so reckless! She surely couldn't have been any _good_ student of his; most definitely not Slytherin.

Severus brushed her hair out of her face, looking intently at her yet unchanging features. He watched for so long that his head dropped into the pillows, and he fell asleep beside the mysterious Miss Lizzie.

* * *

Severus jerked into consciousness, his breath catching and fingers flexing around his wand instinctually.

But he was surrounded by softness, by the white pillows and blankets he had provided for the bed. The candles had darkened hours before and droplets of wax were frozen in time off the edges of the nightstand. The yellow morning light reached into the recently repaired window, creeping its warm hold over the bed. Over Severus and the girl beside him.

He turned his head slowly and found her changed. She was lying on her stomach, her face turned away from him. The blonde hair was replaced with wild curls that rolled down her back. Her form, from what he could see, was more curvaceous than the disguise's.

Severus rose himself onto his elbows, gently pulled her hair away so he could grab her shoulder, and rolled the girl into sight.

The breath pushed painfully out of his chest.

It was _her_. It was her heart-shaped face rolling into the cushion of his arm. It was her soft eyelashes feathered against lightly freckled cheeks. And when she opened her eyes, he knew it would be her amber gaze burning into him.

"Hermione Granger," he said quietly. His pale fingers pressed against her cheek, as if assuring himself of her presence. "I thought you were dead."

_He had watched her anguish with the cruelest smile, because Harry Potter was dying. _

_Finally._

_After the Dark Lord had Avada Kedavra'd the boy, Miss Granger gently lowered him into the mud and stood. Severus knew her expression very well – she was facing her death._

_But the Dark Lord had begun laughing and turned away, overcome with the joy of his victory._

"_Finish her, Severusss," the Dark Lord had said and left. _

_Severus raised his wand at Miss Granger, who suddenly lifted her fiery eyes. She found renewed viciousness when faced with a traitor, it seemed. _

_Miss Granger walked toward him, her bare feet lifting over Potter's body and trudging through the mud. _

"_Professor," she had said, her lips wet and shining in the rain. "Before… before you kill me… I ask one thing."_

_Severus remained silent, his wand glowing green with the anticipation of the Killing Curse. She stopped walking when his wand was digging into the skin of her chest. Miss Granger slowly pulled her robes away from her wet body, watching his expressionless face carefully. _

"_Before I die, Professor," she had said weakly. "Before I die… I want to feel… I want to feel…"_

_She stood before him in drenched Muggle clothing. She reached out a hand and wrapped her fingers in his robes. Her other hand slipped down from her slick neck to pull at the waistband of her jeans._

_The lightning crashed and set fire to her amber eyes._

There was a sharp, stinging gasp.

Severus blinked and found those same eyes staring up at him.

"Miss Granger," he said, finding his throat a little dry.

* * *

I must be cruel to leave you like that... :)

But I promise to have the third, final, and _very_ long chapter up before the week is out. Because I love you, haha. No, really.

Review please!

Love!

Soline


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.**

**Warning: Explicit content in this chapter.**

**_Italicized font_ is referring to the memory, of course.**

**Chapter Three**

Hermione discovered him leaning over her, his hand pressed against her face, his black eyes burning icily down at her like he was lost in a memory. She was terrified.

"Professor," she replied. The title fumbled off her tongue, although she had meant it to sound threatening.

"You're shaking," he said. He seemed at as much of a loss of words as she.

"Yes."

"I thought you were dead. I saw your body." His hard, searching eyes demanded answers.

"You did," she whispered shakily. "It wasn't really me. If you had waited four hours before burning the bodies, you would have seen 'me' change back into a log."

"You Transfigured a log into an exact replica of yourself?" Hermione nodded. Severus moved away from her and rose to his feet, looking angry and regrettably impressed.

"What are you going to do with me?" she asked, sitting upright quickly. He was leaving the room and ignoring her. "Professor! Just answer me!"

"I may kill you before you kill me, Miss Granger," he snarled, pausing at the doorway to let his eyes swallow her image once more.

The door closed, and Hermione dropped her face into the bed. She dug her fingers into her hair; the texture and length seemed like a memory of a long time before, when she didn't have to disguise herself. Hermione moaned in hopelessness and tugged her hair hard, wishing the pain would wake her from a terrible dream.

_His fingers entwined in her wet hair, pulling firmly as his other hand kept the wand trained on her abdomen. Hermione leaned into him, feeling her mind exploding in panic and confusion. _

_This was her plan. She would distract him; she would pull his attention elsewhere so she would have a chance to run. She knew what men wanted. She had heard what their minds were like. How could Professor Snape turn away a wet and willing schoolgirl? _

_He didn't. He had grabbed her up so fiercely that he frightened her. Hermione tried to respond eagerly, but his fingers pulled painfully in her hair and she whimpered aloud. _

_Would he make it painful? She hadn't given thought to that, but she suddenly expected it. Severus released his tight grip quickly and instead started to pull off her wet clothes. Hermione helped him, baring her wet breasts for his smoky eyes to fall on. She had crossed her arms over her chest, but Severus pulled them away._

"_No," he had roughly said, his nimble fingers on her slick skin. "Let me see."_

_Then he looked furtively around and pulled her toward trees, where the grass had not been turned to mud and rain dripped down from green canopies._

_She had shrieked when he rid of her remaining clothes with magic. Hermione was anxiously awaiting the moment when the Professor's vigilance failed, but it did not. His wand was firmly set upon her at all times. Once she was naked under that dripping tree, Severus moved at her._

_He had her on the wet ground, his clothed body covering hers. Hermione pushed at his chest a little when his long fingers slipped between them and stroked her inflamed folds. _

_She whimpered, surprised and angry at the heated lust in her belly. Severus had taken this as invitation and magicked his clothes off his body. He positioned himself against her, and Hermione gritted her teeth._

"_Don't point that wand at me while we do this," she begged, twisting the grass in her fingers._

"_The wand stays, Miss Granger," he said, his eyes narrowing._

_Hermione heaved for air, tasting bile in her throat. She had expected him to fail by now. What should she do? How badly did Hermione Granger want to live, now that all she loved had gone?_

"_I could kill you now," he had whispered gruffly, pressing the wand to her neck. She could feel his hot breath brushing against her cold lips. Did he think that offer to be merciful?_

_Hermione sobbed, looking up into the cold eyes of a traitor and wishing he would be distracted for even a moment. She could have died then, but she didn't choose to. She knew she had some reason to survive, and she would._

_She pushed Severus' wet hair behind his ears and then lifted herself upward. _

_She kissed him._

* * *

Severus pulled away from the Pensieve and pushed his hair behind his ears.

That girl. That bloody girl. She had fucking _kissed_ him. He had stored that memory and watched it so many times. Every time. That kiss. That kiss in the storm under the unnaturally green tree. He remembered the details so well, so vividly.

And now she was back, after he thought she had died. He had _seen_ her body; he had watched it burn. And now the chit was back, in his house, in his bed.

"I should kill her," Severus croaked, lifting a bottle of whiskey to his lips.

But he knew he wouldn't. He couldn't then, after they'd fated themselves, and he wouldn't now. Yes, he had let her escape before. He let her have her moment of opportunity, because he knew that's what she was looking for. That's why she wanted to have sex with him to begin with; she wanted her chance at surviving. He had given it to her.

"Fucking hell." Severus slammed his bottle onto the table next to him and waved his wand. The Looking Glass rose upward again and the glass shimmered.

Hermione was unmoving in bed, curled into a fetal position and fingering the ends of her hair. Her eyes glazed. She was likely lost in the same memory he was.

"So, good friend, is that our little mystery solved?"

Lucius had let himself in and sat gracefully down in the chair across from him. Severus scowled at him without thinking of why; Lucius' features were simply _created_ to be scowled at. He was just too damn beautiful.

Lucius suddenly leaned forward, his elbows on his spread knees, and his silver eyes intent on the Looking Glass.

"I thought she'd died," he breathed.

"As did I."

"What will you do with her?"

Severus shrugged, his eyes unmoving from the Looking Glass. His palm rubbed hard over the stubble on his face. Lucius sighed.

"Will you tell the Dark Lord?" he asked. They both watched Hermione rise from bed and pad over to the bathroom, looking around cautiously. While steaming water filled the ivory tub, she examined Severus' things. Hermione lifted a harmless-looking razor and studied it closely. It suddenly jumped toward her face, as if to shave it, and Hermione hurled it into the bedroom in frightened alarm.

Severus and Lucius chuckled together.

In the Looking Glass, Hermione pulled her work uniform off her body and tested the water with her fingertips. She was thinner than Severus remembered, and then he realized she probably hadn't been eating much. On the night she offered herself, he hadn't noticed the peach color of her soft nipples. A muscled line down the center of her back trailed into her round bottom. Severus remembered tracing that line with his fingertips.

_Her lips were cold, and Severus wanted to warm them so he returned the kiss eagerly, dipping his tongue between her lips. He curled his arm under her shoulders, bracing her against the pain, and pushed into her warm core. _

_She pulled her mouth away, whimpering quietly, but he moaned. He knew it hurt her, so he stopped moving, but he also knew how fucking amazing she felt wrapped around him. _

"_You're shaking," he breathed and rocked his hips against her pink thighs. _

"_Yes," she whispered unsteadily. Her wet fingers slipped on his back, and she dug her fingernails into his skin. Severus hissed as he started a rhythm she seemed comfortable with. He didn't want to hurt her; pain was never his intention. However, she had offered herself to him as a request, and he was just a wizard. Just a man. _

_She lifted her head, trying again to kiss him. Severus rolled them into a sitting position, her on his lap, so she could get what she wanted. This was her need, after all. _

_She surprised him by wrapping her arms tightly around his neck and contracting her thighs on his hips. He had been amazed. She was having sex with him like no one had done before; if he had to compare it to something, he may call it… making love. _

_But, no. Death was to be the end result. Not love._

_Severus gripped her hips and guided her inexperienced body. Thunder rolled deep in the sky above them and the lightning lit her expression. She was angry, confused, and terribly frightened. That's when Severus had fully realized her intention – she was just looking for an opportune moment. _

_He thrust upward into her hot quim with frustration. Hermione dropped her head into his shoulder, her arms still tight around him. Severus forced his erection fully into her until he could feel his balls pressed against her buttocks. _

"_You thought… you'd run… didn't you?" he snarled. Hermione said nothing and only writhed in his lap. She was having an orgasm. Severus clutched her body against him, suddenly forgetting all angry notions. Her muscles clenched on him, almost painfully, and she released the most desperate, sweetest cry in his ear. _

Severus found Lucius staring at him carefully through blonde hair.

"Severus," he said quietly. Severus tore his gaze away from Hermione as she lowered herself into the water. "If you do not choose this life… the other will be much harder."

"I don't understand what she's done to me," Severus growled, looking away from Lucius. "I can't make this decision quickly."

"I think you've already chosen," Lucius smiled grimly. He stood, spared one more glance toward Hermione's bathing figure, and clapped Severus on the shoulder. "If you need connections, I've got them."

Severus clawed his fingers through his hair, now alone with his thoughts. In the mirror, Hermione massaged suds into her curls. The white cream spilled over her shoulders, down the line of her back, and around the curves of her breasts. She dropped herself under the water to rinse.

* * *

_Hermione felt warm and wet all over, and Snape's cock still throbbed impatiently inside her. Her body continued to shake after her orgasm so she clung to the man that held her so tightly. Why had he held her so tightly? Why was she holding to him?_

_Hermione had begun to cry, knowing she was supposed to _hate_ this man. But something deep and unruly was longing for him._

"_Don't," Severus had said. His fingers trailed down the center of her back. His voice was thick and muffled. He flexed his hips, and Hermione felt his length slide within her very slightly. Hemione was glad to be lowered to the ground again and glad to feel Severus' chest on hers. He lifted her knees into his hands and strived to relieve himself as Hermione stared upward._

_She had never forgotten the small details: The lightning-lit green canopy dripped cool water onto her skin, and Severus' smoky eyes looking down with a fascination she'd seen only over a cauldron._

_He'd sunk into her a final time, firmly, and moving his hands upward to memorize her face with his touch. Hermione realized then that Severus had cast away his wand moments before, and then he kissed her like he meant it._

_She had her opportunity to run. Right then. Severus was finishing, distracted and blissful, and Hermione had her chance. But instead she slipped her fingers through his hair and let him spill into her. After all the pain and uncertainty, something so wrong felt undeniably right._

She sat in bed, naked under the sheets, and wondered when she'd be fed again. Hermione had tested the window, but Severus had it magically protected this time and there would be no chance at escaping. Hermione doubted Severus knew what to do with her. In fact, he'd probably spent the last six hours struggling over the very question.

Because if it were the old Severus Snape, Hermione knew she'd be dead or delivered to Voldemort without much deliberation. This, however, was the very same Severus Snape that memorized her very body and touch on the last night of the seven-day war. _This_ Severus had not just fucked her, he had joined with her. He had, whether or not he'd realized, loved her.

* * *

Severus took each step with firm, striking judgment on the worn floor that led up the stairs and toward his bedroom. His fingers curled into bloodless, callous fists. The blackness of his eyes glazed with a sheen of lunacy. He opened the door to the petrified Miss Granger.

_She was watching him with the widest, most terrified gaze he'd ever seen on one of his own students. He wasn't quite sure if it was rain or tears hanging on her eyelashes. Probably both. _

_Severus was reluctant to release her but had pulled out anyway, reaching for his wand. She hadn't yet moved, but her eyes were darting between him and the darkness beyond them. Severus hardly gave his choice a thought. It was obvious to him, at that moment. Although he had killed and death-sentenced many people, he would not do it to her. He would _not_ have Hermione Granger's blood on his hands. _

_He had stared at her from beneath his wet hair one last time, gazing on the prodigy and marvel that was Miss Granger. _

_And then Severus turned slowly away to gather his clothing, purposefully not using magic. As soon as he turned, Severus caught a stinging, heavy blow to his temple. Blackness was below him and he was falling into it, his eyes lazily closing. _

_Miss Granger was pulling back her foot, her eyes frantic and wounded. She seemed torn to check on him after kicking him but eventually pulled herself away. Severus saw the dark night swallow her running form, her arms wrapped around her collected clothing, and he fell into unconsciousness._

He reached her bedside, staring down at her shaking form with faraway eyes.

"Are you going to hurt me?" she asked him.

"No," he said quietly. Severus could feel his hands shaking slightly. He'd never expected to do this. He'd never expected to confront her again.

"Are you going to turn me in?"

"No."

Hermione met his gaze levelly. She was so conflicted; he could see it blatantly.

"You'll send me away?"

"No," he shook his head. Severus couldn't form the words on his tongue. It was madness to even make this choice. He was giving up unstopped riches and safety for a life of hiding and rebuilding. Hermione, however, seemed to understand his decision. She wet her lips, but her eyes brightened very slightly.

"Are we running away together?" she asked, clutching the bedspread in her fingers.

Severus wanted to snarl at her romantic choice of words, but she had the right notion.

"If you'll agree," he said. "Otherwise, you may return to your own choice of life. You must know, however, that I will watch you. Closely."

She stared at the wall for a long time, blushing and paling in succession with her thoughts.

"I will never forgive you," she said flatly, fixing him with an amber stare.

"I know." Severus didn't regret letting Potter die, but he suddenly detested her deplorable feelings. Hermione shook her head.

"I don't know."

Severus wished she would say yes.

"I'd be abominable for it," she sniffed.

_Say yes._

"And then… something's happened between us, hasn't it?" she continued, flexing her hands. "Severus… do you love me?"

_Fucking hell, girl, say – _

"Say yes!" he urged, sounding more desperate than he had intended. Hermione's breath hitched and stopped sharply in her throat. Her piercing, knowing gaze engulfed him – she knew his feelings better then himself. She made him feel naked.

"I loved you then," she said, pulling her eyes thankfully away. Her small fingers reached out to entwine in his. "On that night, under the tree, I started loving you. I didn't want to and… neither did you." She smiled grimly. She turned his palm toward her and stroked it with her fingertips. Severus found himself entranced with her and didn't stop her. "To love you, after what you've done to Harry… to my entire life, is absurd."

"You are cruel," Severus whispered. Some blistering pain had filled the inside of his chest.

"I said absurd," she said lowly. He tried to step back, but Hermione held tightly to his hand. Severus snarled and almost stuck her before abhorring himself for the thought. She flinched away anyway. "Severus, I did not say impossible. Please!"

She tugged him, hard and bodily, onto the bed with her. Severus narrowly missed giving her a bruised cheek with his elbow and instead found her crushed beneath him in anguished tears.

"Don't cry—"

"Please," she sobbed. "I still love you. Fuck all, I do." Her shaking hands were all over him, pulling at his clothes and touching his face.

Severus, in spite of the pain leaving his chest, smiled briefly and slipped the sheets out from between them. Hermione gasped as his clothed body pushed against her naked skin once more.

"How can I do this?" she said weakly, dropping her head back. Severus hesitated and then kissed her chin.

"We find another home, and we start over," he murmured on her neck.

"Start fresh?" she whispered. "Brand new? You were never a Death Eater, and I never befriended Harry Potter?"

"No. I will always have scars, and you will always miss him," Severus said. "We will be proud of our lives, and we only begin again with each other."

He dipped his head to lick her neck, tasting her and letting her think.

"I like that," she said slowly. "I can do that."

He looked up and found Hermione smiling at him softly.

"Yes, Severus," she said. "I'll go with you."

They smiled, Hermione almost laughing with joy, as he kissed her ardently. Severus pressed himself tightly into her curves, between her thighs, remembering the bliss that he thought he'd never relive.

* * *

"_Severus," Lucius had urged. "Where the bloody hell are your clothes?"_

_Severus awoke and swung his wand at the blonde wizard, his eyes dark and furious. Lucius remained still, letting Severus come to his senses. _

"_The girl…" Severus muttered, snatching his robes from Lucius' hands._

"_Granger?" Lucius asked curiously. "She did this to you? Surely not…"_

"_She did," Severus snapped, standing and walking quickly away from the trees. His head hurt – as if something were trying to dig its way out of his temple._

_The smell of death was hot and sweaty in the air. A large fire, directly outside the front doors of Hogwarts, was burning with heightening enthusiasm. Severus could hear the muffled thumps and showers of sparks as bodies were thrown into the heat. _

_The Dark Lord stood on the steps, Levitating Harry Potter's stiff body over the flames, cooking him like a marshmallow. Severus and Lucius curled their lips in unison. _

"_They found the Granger girl," Lucius had said suddenly, watching Severus for a reaction. Everything around him seemed to slow down. Noises became lower and more animalistic. The smell of black, papery flesh was overwhelming. _

"_Who killed her?"_

"_No one knows. She was found dead… There."_

_Lucius pointed. A Death Eater Levitated Hermione's body off the unburned pile and prepared to throw it into the fire. She was limp, lifeless, and even her freckles were colorless. _

_Severus nearly retched – not twenty minutes ago they had been tangled in ecstasy, and she was coming in his lap. _

"_No!" he snarled inhumanly. Severus braced his muscles to jump forward, but he was immediately frozen in place, with Lucius gripping the back of his robes to keep him standing. _

"_I'm sorry, my friend," Lucius said lowly. "She is gone. The Dark Lord would kill you for impotence. I won't let that happen over one who's already died… I'm sorry."_

_Hermione's body was thrown into the fire and the flames leapt with delight. Severus would have howled in anger if he'd been able to move, but Lucius' Stunning spell held well. _

_He quickly remembered the feeling of her warmth, her touch, her eyes upon him. He quickly remembered the cry she released in his lap, in the thunderstorm, under the vivid green… He was afraid he'd forget the only things he knew about her._

_Lucius slowly released his spell. Severus closed his eyes and, ignoring the evidence of her burning body before him, wished to feel Hermione Granger just once more._

* * *

I really enjoyed writing this short story, and I hope you all enjoyed it.

Please review - I'd very much appreciate it. :)

Love!

Soline


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